Domestic staff hired by one in 10 homes

Nearly one in 10 households now employs domestic help to do cleaning, cooking or ironing, a survey showed yesterday.

Domestic staff are no longer the preserve of the aristocracy as time-stretched workers increasingly hire household employees to free themselves up for other commitments.

Of those who have household staff, the overwhelming majority - 82 per cent - use cleaners, followed by 30 per cent who use gardeners and 17 per cent who hire nannies, while 16 per cent just get someone in to "do the ironing".

And the trend is set to continue as nearly a fifth of homeowners are considering employing domestic helpers, according to the Barclays survey of more than 1,000 adults.

Time pressure is the main cause of the boom - 70 per cent claim they do not have time to do chores while 36 per cent prefer to spend the time doing other things.

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Unsurprisingly, wealthier households are more likely to employ staff - nearly one in six households with an income of £50,000 a year or more has domestic help.

Overall, a third say they dislike doing housework. But the research also suggests many enjoy it, as 41 per cent claim that they prefer to do chores themselves.

A spokesman for Barclays Premier Banking said: "Long gone are the 'upstairs downstairs' days of domestic staff which were the preserve of the nobility.

"In the 21st century we are all trying to cram as much into our lives as possible and will think nothing of taking on the help we need to do this."